Creative Corner: Internships drive success

Vermont Technology Council connects students with businesses

Jan. 18, 2012

Beth Hill

Written by

Beth Hill

More than ever, scientific discovery and the technological innovations derived from basic research are serving as the foundations for dynamic state, regional and national economies. Since 1992, The Vermont Technology Council has been a catalyst for science- and technology-based economic development. The council brings together the research of our universities and colleges with the entrepreneurial spirit of our businesses and the support of state government.

Created in 2010, the Vermont Technology Council Internship Program — under the leadership of John Evans, president of the council — supports economic development, education and work force development efforts in the state. The program model is straightforward: employers hire current and recently graduated college students, primarily during the summer. The council, in turn, works with its many partner colleges and universities to attract the best applicants for the openings.

We are excited to begin another year of creating employment opportunities for students. We are reaching out to businesses and students via LinkedIn and other social media, monthly newsletters and webinars, which is a new direction for the internship program. Students and businesses are beginning to understand the importance of an organized internship program.

In this economy, students need to be looking for opportunities to build their resumes while they are still undergraduates. Gone are the days of a college degree alone leading to a career. Businesses are learning that the time invested in hiring a student with a specific interest in their product or service is time and money well-spent. Many companies hire those interns full-time when they graduate.

Just ask Jen Loiselle, office manager of Physician’s Computer Company; Frank Cioffi, president of the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation; or Steve Arms, president and chief executive officer of MicroStrain Inc. These savvy employers fully understand the power of internships.

“The Vermont Technology Council’s Internship Program is a great way for students to know and hear about Physician’s Computer Company,” Loiselle said. “It’s always nice for us to be able to work with someone before we hire them permanently.”

“MicroStrain has a long history of providing paid internships for engineering and computer science students from Vermont colleges and universities as well as for students who may be returning to Vermont from out-of-state schools over their winter and summer vacations,” Arms said. “Many of our former student interns are now full-time members of our staff, and they’re now mentoring our student interns for the future.”

MicroStrain had 14 student interns in the summer of 2011, and hired four interns to full-time positions in 2010/2011. Two were University of Vermont graduates — one in mechanical engineering and one in computer science — one graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in computer engineering, and one was a Champlain College graduate, a computer science-game developer. MicroStrain expects to hire at least two of our graduating interns this spring to fill full-time engineering and software developer positions in 2012. The company is filling new internships for the summer of 2012 now.

The Vermont Technology Council Internship Program is designed to be user-friendly for students and businesses alike. When an employer posts an internship opportunity on www.vttechcouncil.org, we will do everything possible to make sure the internship is filled, and that it’s a success for both parties.

Beth Hill is program specialist in the Office of Technology Commercialization at the University of Vermont .